Defining & Expanding User Experience

Patrick Algrim

Lesson 11

Newton's 3rd Law says, "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction". In my opinion this is the best way to describe an experience. Experiences ultimately define our lives. When we are young, we have no experiences thus our artifact is of little knowledge. When we are old, the opposite. If experiences can expand our cognitive knowledge then they absolutely can solve problems by embedding that knowledge into form or function.

In this lesson we'll take a look at some of the basics to creating great user experiences and some of the more complex tasks such as creating flows or simplifying and understanding user intent.

We've learned about simplicity in product and designing for reduction of friction. A common complicated task is checkout flows (when you buy something online).

Using paper, a whiteboard or sticky note map out a common checkout flow. Look upon the flow and find ways for this same flow to be easier. Make it less time consuming and more communicative toward actions to take.

Patrick Algrim

An entrepreneur living in San Francisco & Chicago. Created a design studio in 2007 that worked directly with the founders of Threadless, Fast Company and Boxee. In 2010 I left the studio and started MyZeus, a small consumer internet product focused on solving problems around movie viewing experiences online. MyZeus was acquired by Groupon in 2012. You can find out more about what I'm up to at algrim.co or follow me on Twitter.